2020 Speakers

H.E. Khaled al-Fadhel

Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water

Kuwait

Mark McCollum

CEO

Weatherford International

Mr. Mark McCollum is President and Chief Executive Officer for Weatherford International plc. Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies providing innovative solutions, technology and services to the oil and gas industry. The Company operates in over 80 countries and has a network of approximately 610 locations, including manufacturing, service, research and development, and training facilities and employs approximately 26,000 people.

Prior to joining Weatherford, Mr. McCollum served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Halliburton. Mr. McCollum also served as senior vice president and chief accounting officer for Halliburton from 2003 to 2007.

Prior to joining Halliburton, Mr. McCollum served in various senior executive positions for Tenneco from 1995 through 2003. Before joining Tenneco, Mr. McCollum spent 14 years with Arthur Andersen LLP and served as an audit and business advisory partner of the firm’s worldwide partnership from 1991 through 1994.            He earned a BBA in 1980 from Baylor University.

Mr. McCollum serves on the board of directors for Westlake Chemical Corporation. He is a member of the Board of Regents of Baylor University and he also serves on the board of trustees for Baylor College of Medicine and the advisory board of Every Village.

Dr. Khaled Mahdi

Secretary-General

General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development of Kuwait

Khaled A. Mahdi is the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (GSSCPD) and is the Program Director of the Country Plan Action Program of UNDP in Kuwait. He serves several high-level government boards, committees, such as the Public Authority for Industries, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Researches, the Public Housing Welfare Authority, the National SME Fund, the Economic, Fiscal Reform (Estidama) Committee, the Kuwait Master Plan 2040, and heads the National Committee for the Implementation of the UN Agenda 2030. Currently, he resides as a board member in Enayah Hospital Management Company responsible in privatizing the operation of Jaber Hospital. Since he assumed his current post, Khaled established proudly the Kuwait Public Policy Center (KPPC) with a nudge unit (KPAL) and the National Knowledge Economy Center (NKEC) and initiated the New Kuwait outreach public campaign, Kuwait Sustainable Development Award (KSDA) and Kuwait Distinguished Women Award (KDWA). He received the “People First” Leader GCC HR Award in (2018).

He served as an Advisor for the Kuwait University strategic office (2005) and for the Minister of Planning and Development Affairs office (2013). He sits on the AUK’s College of Business Administration and Economics Advisory board (2016) and The Conference Board executive board (2018)

In the private sector, during the period (2009 – 2013), Khaled chairs the region’s first construction waste recycle plant (BOT project with the Government of Kuwait) and cofound a consultancy services firm besides sitting on several boards of local and regional industrial corporations.

In academia and for consecutive 15 years, Khaled was an Associate Professor in the College of Engineering and Petroleum at Kuwait University where he taught 30 different engineering and management courses, received the best teaching award, co-authored more than 65 publications (Journals, Conferences, Chapters, Technical reports and others). He professionally trained more than 1300 professionals in engineering and management fields. He received the Best Teaching Award in Kuwait University (2009)

Khaled is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a Ph.D. degree from Northwestern University in Chemical Engineering.  He is a Certified Consultant Engineer (CEng), a Project Management Professional (PMP) and PRINCE2, a certified GCC Commercial Arbitrator, and is a member in several international professional organizations.

Sara Akbar

Chairperson & CEO

OiLSERV Kuwait

Sara Akbar has over 35 years of expierence in the oil and gas industry and is currently the Chairperson and CEO of OiLSERV, Kuwait; part of the OiLSERV Group, an indigenous oilfield services company operating in the MENA region. Furthermore, Sara serves as a Non-Executive Director of Petrofac [since January 2018].
In addition to her roles in the oil and gas industry, Sara is also a member of the Kuwait Supreme Council for Planning and Development and also an active member of the Board of Trustees of Kuwait’s Silk Territory project. In both capacities, Sara works closely with the Kuwaiti Cabinet of Ministers to set the road map for Kuwait’s strategy and the execution of its 2035 vision.
Furthermore, Sara has been the Chairperson of Advisory Board to the American University of Kuwait [AUK] College of Business & Economics [CBE] since 2016.
In the past, Sara served as Director on various Kuwaiti companies and industry Societies including the Society of Petroleum Engineers [ SPE], Kuwait Society of Engineers [ KSE], Kuwait Gulf Oil Company [ KGOC] and Kuwait Drilling Company [ KDC]
Sara held various senior positions at both government and private oil and gas entities. She started her career in 1981 working for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and then at Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) where her roles included the Head of the Planning unit and the Manager of New Business Development.
In 2005, Sara co-founded Kuwait Energy, the first MENA-based private independent oil & gas exploration & production company. Up until December 2017, she served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Deputy Chairman.
Sara received many acclaims for her key role in Kuwait’s Wild Well Killers fire-fighting team which was responsible for extinguishing Kuwait’s oil well fires post the Iraqi invasion in 1991. The heroic act earned Sara the designation of ‘Firefighter’ and a ‘Global 500 Award’ presented by the United Nation’s Environmental Program. She was also awarded the prestigious ‘Leader in Energy’ award at the Women in Leadership Awards & Forum in 2009 recognising her as the first and only woman leader in the Oil and Gas industry in the Middle East. In 2013, she received the AIME Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal. Sara was named among the top 100 Most Powerful Arab Businesswomen of 2017 by Forbes Middle East. In September 2018 , she received the Hall of Fame award recognizing her as pioneer in Oil and Gas industry.
Sara received her Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from Kuwait University and has amassed, throughout the years, a wealth of knowledge and experience

Rajeev Gautam

CEO

Honeywell PMT

Micheal Townshend

Regional President Middle East

BP

Michael Townshend has been with BP for 39 years in roles covering wells, project management, operations, planning, and mergers & acquisitions. Posts have ranged from projects and operations in the Middle East, Caucasus, Turkey, Russia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Australia, UK and the USA.

In 2002 he was CEO of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and managed BP’s onshore business in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. From 2007 he started up BPs operations in Oman, and Iraq, served on the Board of TNK-BP and became President of BP Russia. In 2014 he was appointed BP Regional President for the Middle East.

Michael Townshend holds an honours degree in Engineering and an MBA with distinction.

Luciano Poli

President

Dow Chemical India, Middle East, North Africa & Turkey (IMET)

Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy

Technology Fellow and Chief Data Scientist

Halliburton

Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy is a pioneer in the fields of data science, big data, analytics, and emerging technologies. Dr. Priyadarshy is the first Chief Data Scientist of Oil and Gas Industry. He is currently, a Technology Fellow and Chief Data Scientist at Halliburton. He is also a Member of the Mauritius Artificial Intelligence Council, Republic of Mauritius. Dr. Priyadarshy is recognized as one of top global executives leading innovative business transformation, as per the global elite list of Constellation Research’s Business Transformation (BT150). In September 2016, Smart Industry (www.smartindustry.com) named Dr. Priyadarshy as one of key innovators on the leading edge of digital transformation. Dr. Priyadarshy is a globally recognized leader with a breadth of scientific knowledge, in-depth technology experience, and extensive business acumen. He holds various academic positions as well. He is member of various Executive, Technical, Review Committee for SPE, AAPG, and similar organizations. Dr. Priyadarshy has appeared as keynote speaker at several international conferences and has written, co-authored, presented and published numerous research papers in peer-reviewed journals and magazines. His profile has appeared in many magazines including Chemical and Engineering News, The Scientist, Silicon India, Oil Review Middle East, Petroleum Review, RigZone among others. He has published over 35 papers and articles including an expert opinion in magazines like Science. Dr. Priyadarshy obtained his Ph.D. from IIT Bombay and MBA from The Pamplin School of Business, Virginia Tech.

Qusai Al-Amer

Deputy CEO Administration & Finance

KOC

Qusai Nasser Al-Amer has been appointed as Deputy CEO (Administration) at KOC since May 2019.  Prior to that, he has held several leading positions in Kuwait Oil Company since 1990 such as Head of Support Services Team at Medical Group, Recruitment Team Leader, Personnel Admin Team Leader, and HR Planning Coordinator.

In his current position, he provides leadership across functions such as Human Resources, Training & Career Development, Public Relations, Ahmadi Services and Medical; including a workforce of over 2000 employees.

He has been head of many committees within Oil Sector, such as a The Office Master Plan Committee and Central Job Evaluation Committee and a member of Board of Directors of Kuwait Praxylene Production Company and Work Relations Committee.

Education

Kuwait University

B.Sc. Statistics 1990

Omar Saleh

Regional Director, Energy & Manufacturing, Middle East & Africa

Microsoft

Jose Bustamante

Executive Vice President Business Development & Strategy

Fluor

Mr. Mark McCollum is President and Chief Executive Officer for Weatherford International plc. Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies providing innovative solutions, technology and services to the oil and gas industry. The Company operates in over 80 countries and has a network of approximately 610 locations, including manufacturing, service, research and development, and training facilities and employs approximately 26,000 people.

Prior to joining Weatherford, Mr. McCollum served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Halliburton. Mr. McCollum also served as senior vice president and chief accounting officer for Halliburton from 2003 to 2007.

Prior to joining Halliburton, Mr. McCollum served in various senior executive positions for Tenneco from 1995 through 2003. Before joining Tenneco, Mr. McCollum spent 14 years with Arthur Andersen LLP and served as an audit and business advisory partner of the firm’s worldwide partnership from 1991 through 1994.            He earned a BBA in 1980 from Baylor University.

Mr. McCollum serves on the board of directors for Westlake Chemical Corporation. He is a member of the Board of Regents of Baylor University and he also serves on the board of trustees for Baylor College of Medicine and the advisory board of Every Village.

Paul Carthy

Managing Director

Accenture

Emad Alablani

General Manager – Head, Group Human Resources

NBK

Emad joined the National Bank of Kuwait on March 2003 where he started his career as a Manager heading the Recruitment Department. Moreover, he headed the HR Operations and then deputized for the General Manager of Group Human Resources. He has been officially appointed as Head of Group Human Resources for NBK on a General Manager level reporting to the Chief Executive Officer since October 2014. Before joining NBK, Emad has been appointed in several managerial roles at Kuwait University and Qualitynet, among others.
Furthermore, Emad is a member of various management and leadership committees at NBK, including but not limited to Information Security Governance, IT Board, Remuneration and Talent Management Committee.
Emad is a member of the Executive Committee that is in charge of bank wide key decisions and strategy and he is a member of the CBA Advisory Board (AACSB, MBA) at Gulf University for Science and Technology-GUST on January 2016.
Emad is an alumni from both Harvard Business School and American University of Beirut (AUB) after completing the General Management Program (GMP) at HBS and an Executive MBA at AUB respectively. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Educational Psychology from Kuwait University.

Dr. Osamah A. Alsayegh

Executive Director of the Energy and Building Research Center (EBRC)

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR)

Dr. Osamah Alsayegh is the Executive Director of the Energy and Building Research Center at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). Since 2000, Dr. Alsayegh has been leading and participating in national energy system planning and strategy development projects including the development of a national strategy for the exploitation of renewable energy, development of sustainable national energy white paper, and Kuwait energy outlook. Dr. Alsayegh is the country’s National Liaison Officer for the International Atomic Energy Agency, and was a Technical Coordinator in the former Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee. He received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees all in Electrical Engineering in 1990, 1995 and 1999, respectively.

Arda Atalay

Regional Sales Director

LinkedIn MENA

Arda Atalay joined LinkedIn Middle East in 2015. Based in Dubai, Arda is currently responsible for growing an in-house team and taking LinkedIn’s suite of Talent Solutions to clients across the Middle East & North Africa

A professional  with 24 years of corporate experience, Arda has held senior roles in Sales & Consulting leadership positions in major IT multinationals ; Oracle & SAP in Middle East region . Arda began his career in the financial services industry  as an auditor of PWC before moving to the IT world.

Prof. Isam Zabalawi

President

Australian College of Kuwait (ACK)

James Wimbury

Resources Country Lead - Kuwait

Accenture

Jamie Ingram

Senior Editor

MEES

Jamie Ingram is Senior Editor at MEES where he is responsible for producing content on energy and political developments in the Gulf region and covering global market developments. Prior to joining MEES in 2015 he worked as a MENA analyst at IHS and as a Gulf Researcher at RUSI. He has extensive experience of working and traveling in the Middle East and has conducted in-depth interviews with multiple senior energy officials in the region.